A mosaic of Mary as Mother of the Church is seen above St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in this April 13, 2011, file photo. Pope Francis has instituted a new Marian feast honoring Mary as mother of the Church. It will be celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church doesn’t often add new celebrations to its pretty full liturgical calendar, but this year’s new feast day, Mary, Mother of the Church on May 21, has Catholics gearing up to mark the day or at least think a little more about Mary.

The new feast day, which will be celebrated annually the day after Pentecost, was announced in a March 3 decree by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. The decree said the pope approved the celebration because he thought it might “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.”

[…]

Gloria Falcao Dodd, director of academic programs for the International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton, Ohio, wrote a paper about this Marian title in 2006. Her research shows that a bishop in the 1100s called Mary, Mother of the Church, and Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical on the rosary said that Mary at Pentecost was “in very truth, the mother of the Church, the teacher and queen of the apostles.”

And in 1981, the title “Mother of the Church” was given another boost when St. John Paul II had a mosaic commissioned for the outside wall of his papal apartment called “Mater Ecclesiae” (“Mother of the Church”) in gratitude for his recovery after being shot in St. Peter’s Square. Then, and other times, the pope spoke of Mary as a mediator, or someone who intercedes for us, said Falcao Dodd.

That idea of Mary interceding for the Church, as a mother does for her children, is important for Catholics to consider, especially as this new feast falls so soon after Mother’s Day, said Falcao Dodd. She also said it is key to understand its placement right after Pentecost, noting that at the time of the original Pentecost, Mary “did what a mother would do - she prayed with and for her children in the upper room.” And at Jesus’ crucifixion, when he publicly announced to the disciple John, “behold your mother” about Mary. John, symbolizes all of us, the Church, Falcao Dodd said.

Any of you guys watch any of the Fr Mike Schmitz videos on youtube? I would actually consider a physical move to Minnesota just so I could attend his church. As an inquirer to the Catholic Church, his videos have been, hands-down, the most inspiring and joy-inducing part of my journey so far. I gotta think this man is a huge blessing to both the younger (and younger-minded) set, AND to folks who are coming out of the new wave of evangelicalism with it's high-powered, seeker-friendly, and engaging slant.

Palestinians run for cover from Israeli fire and tear gas at the Israel-Gaza border during a protest against the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem May 14. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters via CNS.)

JERUSALEM — As the world witnesses “another outburst of hatred and violence, which is once again bleeding all over the Holy Land,” the head of Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarchate called for prayers for peace.

“We need to pray more for peace and our conversion and for all,” said Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the patriarchate, or diocese.

The Associated Press reported that the same day the United States was inaugurating its embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli forces shot and killed 57 Palestinians and injured more than 2,700 during mass protests along the Gaza border May 14. In addition, a baby died from tear gas inhalation, the Gaza Health Ministry said, bringing the death toll to 58.

“The lives of so many young people have once again been shut down and hundreds of families are mourning their loved ones, dead or wounded,” said the statement from Pizzaballa. “As in a kind of vicious circle, we must condemn all forms of violence, any cynical use of human lives and disproportionate violence. Once again we are forced by circumstances to plead and cry out for justice and peace!”

He announced that May 19, the eve of Pentecost, the Church would hold a prayer vigil at the Church of St. Stephen at L’Ecole Biblique. He asked the entire diocese to dedicate a day of prayer and fasting for the peace of Jerusalem and that the liturgy on Pentecost be dedicated to prayer for peace.

“We must truly pray to the Spirit to change our hearts to better understand his will and to give us the strength to continue to work for justice and peace,” the archbishop said.

Any of you guys watch any of the Fr Mike Schmitz videos on youtube? I would actually consider a physical move to Minnesota just so I could attend his church. As an inquirer to the Catholic Church, his videos have been, hands-down, the most inspiring and joy-inducing part of my journey so far. I gotta think this man is a huge blessing to both the younger (and younger-minded) set, AND to folks who are coming out of the new wave of evangelicalism with it's high-powered, seeker-friendly, and engaging slant.

I’ve watched a few of his vids. He is gifted at preaching and teaching. An amazing number of priests are not. I wouldn’t move anywhere for good preaching from anyone, but I might make a point to visit. Locally to me, I have another good teacher, Bishop Robert Barron.

Regardless, per capita, the Evangelicals have it all over the Catholics when it comes to charismatic teaching and preaching, the meat of the message itself notwithstanding.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” -Yoda

“I grew up in a church with Ned Flanders. Down to the mustache. But so did a bunch of people I assume, which makes it so fun-diddly-unny.” -tuttle

You know, I’m watching the German Bishop Intercommunion Commission with a bit of interest. I don’t know exactly why this is being considered and why the Pope seems to be handing over the keys to the local bishops there.

We’re talking about Lutherans here. To my knowledge, Lutherans don’t even have apostolic succession, valid Eucharists and none of them even have any room for a universal Papacy within their ecclesiastical view of the church and theology of the church. I don’t get it.

If a Lutheran believes in the Eucharist, why not simply become Catholic? It’s not like the Lutherans in Germany are threatening to kill apostate Lutherans who convert to Catholicism.

Intercommunion between some Orthodox and Melkite Catholics have and do happen in some instances, but this is quite different, albeit, perhaps still not proper. Regardless, the local Orthodox there and Melkite Catholics come from the same local church, arguably the Antiochian Church is officially Catholic by it’s canon laws and folks on both sides believe in the Eucharist the exact same way, are valid on both sides and the Orthodox can at least hold some sort of Papal primacy belief as a faithful Orthodox Christian. With agreement, intercommunion might further unity between them. But the Lutherans? Didn’t they reject too much Catholicism to inter commune?

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” -Yoda

“I grew up in a church with Ned Flanders. Down to the mustache. But so did a bunch of people I assume, which makes it so fun-diddly-unny.” -tuttle

Bank notes of different currencies are seen in this illustration photo (CNS photo/Kai Pfaffenbach, Reuters)

Vatican City — Two Vatican offices have taken the global financial system to task, decrying in a new document the way markets primarily serve the world's wealthiest minority and stress profit to an extent that creates "a profoundly amoral culture."

In a joint venture giving theological weight to Pope Francis' frequent criticism that "this economy kills," the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development also warn that global markets are returning to past heights of "myopic egoism" 10 years after the financial crisis of 2008.

"Markets, the powerful propeller of the economy, are not capable of governing themselves," the Vatican offices state in the document, titled Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones and released May 17.

The central argument of the document is that the economic system should "aim above all to promote the global quality of life that, before the indiscriminate expansion of profits, leads the way toward the integral well-being of the entire person and of every person."

"No profit is in fact legitimate when it falls short of the objective of the integral promotion of the human person, the universal destination of goods, and the preferential option for the poor," it states.

While the document acknowledges that many financiers and stock traders are "animated by good and right intentions," it says global markets have become "a place where selfishness and the abuse of power have the potential to harm the community beyond match."

It says that although some modern wealth creation techniques are not "directly unacceptable from an ethical point of view," they can be "instances of proximate immorality, that is, occasions that readily generate the kind of abuse and deception that can damage less advantaged counterparts."

"Money in itself is a good instrument ... and is a means to order one's freedom and to expand one’s possibilities," it continues. "Nevertheless, the means can easily turn against the person."

"Likewise, the financial dimension of the business world, focusing business on the access of money through the gateway of the world of stock exchange, is as such something positive," it states. "Such a phenomenon, however, today risks accentuating bad financial practices concentrated primarily on speculative transactions of virtual wealth."

The document reserves some of its strongest language for the way those who run the financial system are trained in their craft, saying "the objective of mere profit easily creates a perverse and selective logic that often favors the advancement of business leaders who are capable, but greedy and unscrupulous."

Such training, it says, helps "create and diffuse a profoundly amoral culture — in which one often does not hesitate to commit a crime when the foreseen benefits exceed the expected penalty."

"Such behavior gravely pollutes the health of every economic-social system," it continues. "It endangers the functionality and seriously harms the effective realization of that common good, upon which is necessarily founded every form of social institution."

Among the financial practices that receive the sharpest criticism from the Vatican offices is use of offshore accounts in order to avoid taxation on wealth.

In 1881, the Wharton School of Business opened at the University of Pennsylvania. It was the first collegiate business school in the United States, and the date of its founding marks a high point in the evolution of economics from a subject that was studied for centuries as part of moral theology to a distinct discipline of its own.

Or a low point -- in what now appears as a devolution. Untethered from the human subjects whose lives and decisions and values are what constitute economic activity, the modern study of economics has become an academic and policy Frankenstein's monster, coercing its subjects with its pretended laws, dehumanizing community and political life, leaving human lives by the wayside as collateral damage.

The new document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on modern finance, Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones ("Considerations for an Ethical Discernment Regarding Some Aspects of the Present Economic-Financial System") does not mention Wharton, but it denounces in the most forthright terms yet seen from the Holy See the idea that economics is a science no different from biology, a science the laws of which are as natural as the winds, that human and religious values may seek to comment, but they can make no claim to shape, still less dictate, economic outcomes that are the mere playing out of iron laws. We have come to believe that economics, like gravity, just is: Demand drives supply just as the apple falls to the ground.

Not so, say the authors. "Therefore, the proper orientation of reason can never be absent from any area of human activity. It follows that there can be no area of human action that legitimately claims to be either outside of or impermeable to ethical principles based on liberty, truth, justice and solidarity," the document states. "This is true for those areas in which the political and economic laws apply: 'Today, with a view towards the common good, there is urgent need for politics and economics to enter into a frank dialogue in the service of life, especially human life.' " The quote within the text is from "Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home."

So far from economics being liberated from the inquisitorial eye of religion, the document insists that authentic liberation must always develop within ethical principles, not try and affix the ethics as an add-on. "In order to liberate every realm of human activity from the moral disorder that so often afflicts it, the Church recognizes among her primary duties the responsibility to call everyone, with humble certainty, to clear ethical principles," the document states.

And the ethics needed are not the hyper-individualist, market-worshiping ethics of libertarianism. Not only does the text specifically call for market regulation, but in speaking about the 2008 financial meltdown, and the potential to have learned some ethical lessons therefrom, the document states, "On the contrary, the response seems at times like a return to the heights of myopic egoism, limited by an inadequate framework that, excluding the common good, also excludes from its horizons the concern to create and spread wealth, and to eliminate the inequality so pronounced today."

[...]

As one expects from a document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the text frequently mentions truth, and I am sure the apologists for libertarian economic ideas will insist that their views merely state a scientifiic truth. How to respond? An analogy will help. This past week, there has been controversy after a White House aide, Kelly Sadler, said in a meeting that they should not worry too much about the opposition of Sen. John McCain to the nomination of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA because "he's dying anyway." Technically, what Sadler said is true, but that is not exhaustive. It was also morally obscene. Mutatis mutandi[𝚜], that is the answer to whatever objections to this document are raised by the high priests of economic "science."

Since this document comes in part from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, there is no more hiding behind the false right-wing talking point that some issues, like abortion or same-sex marriage, involve irreformable doctrine while economic matters are the stuff of prudential judgment and we can all pretty much think what we wish. No. Economic matters involve very core doctrines of the faith as well.

Last week, the Vatican released a new magisterial (= authoritative teaching) document about “economic and financial issues” (Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones, the opening words and thus title). Co-signed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the office for “Integral Human Development” (Vaticanese for social justice), it is a synthesis of the teachings of the bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, on this topic. It is “offered to all men and women of good will” (not just Catholics, 6). The bottom-line of the document, stated at the outset, is that economic markets must be “appropriate[ly] regulat[ed]” and based on “a clear ethical foundation” (1). Rejected is the false notion that economics are morally neutral (libertarianism, laissez-faire). Nothing is stated in the document that has not already been taught by Francis and/or his predecessors. Still, it is a timely reminder that will help Francis to promote his social magisterium.

[…]

The essentially social, even political, nature of the Catholic faith remains a scandal to many people. The far-left would confine all religions (especially Catholicism!) to the realm of the private, banning public expressions of religion and political statements by clergy. (I’m looking at you, France.) On the right, in America the dominant religious force has been and remains Evangelicalism (though statistics indicate steep decline, which will accelerate because of its hypocritical support of Donald Trump). Traditionally, Evangelicals consider the pope to be the anti-Christ and Catholicism a Satanic “cult” (see the recent dust-up about megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress). Therefore, Catholic influence in politics is likely to be seen with suspicion, though the pro-life movement has somewhat mitigated this. More importantly, Evangelicals have traditionally regarded Christianity as essentially apolitical and private: it is about “saving souls” for a spiritual, otherworldly afterlife. For this reason, it has promoted indifference toward political and social issues, resulting in complicity in grave evils such as slavery and racial segregation (“slaveholder religion”). Just this week, a pastor proposed a resolution to the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.) condemning “social justice”! This distorted version of Christianity offers the unjust a free chance at salvation without requiring them to behave justly, provided they don’t engage in the proscribed forms of sexuality. Even when Evangelicals object to certain changes in politics, namely the acceptance of abortion and homosexuality, the concern is one of “personal morality,” not social justice. In recent decades, however, we have seen the rise of a religious right that seeks political influence (sometimes this is called “dominion theology”). This movement is reminiscent of the old Christendom that the Catholic Church has since rejected. While the religious right seeks to outlaw abortion and homosexuality, it continues to leverage the old rhetoric of “personal morality” to justify its anti-immigrant and warmongering public policies, since these are political matters said to be outside the realm of religion and morality.

This perverted version of Christianity has, I’m sorry to say, infected many American Catholics. You see it every time you hear a Catholic–liberal or conservative–say that “the pope should stay out of politics.” The pope recognizes how widespread is this error, and that is why this document has been released. Morality (better: love) is both private and public. The popes oppose everything they consider evil, not just abortion and homosexuality, but war, capital punishment, racism and xenophobia, and economic inequality. It must be stated here, forcefully, that this pope tries to reach out to LGBT people, to include them and help them not to feel marginalized in the Church. The Catholic understanding of sex, marriage, and procreation shouldn’t be used to justify discrimination against gays and lesbians (see CCC 2358).

In modern Catholicism, there is a tradition of conservative dissent from the social doctrines of the Roman pontiffs that goes back to William F. Buckley, Jr. (founder of the National Review), who rejected St. John XXIII’s social encyclical Mater et Magistra (1961). A more recent example is when George Weigel (also in the National Review) rejected portions of Benedict XVI’s social encyclical Caritas in Veritate (2009). Conservative dissent has differed from the liberal in that it has tried to stay quiet, since conservative Catholics define themselves by their loyalty to the popes over against secularism and “modernism.” In the public eye, they succeeded in presenting themselves as being on the same side as the popes, even when they disagreed. In contrast, liberal Catholics, beginning with Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) condemning birth control, have been outspoken in their opposition. However, since Francis published his encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015) about the environment and his letter Amoris Laetitia (2016) calling for the re-integration of some divorced Catholics, conservative dissent has become louder than the liberal. We have seen countless conferences and petitions directed against him (just this month a “plea” from fifteen priests was released).

Over the days and weeks to come, expect to see publications like the National Review, National Catholic Register, Catholic “News” Agency, and LifeSite “News” publish pieces criticizing the new document. They will try to frame this as opposition to the “novelties” and “innovations” (perhaps even “heresies”) of Francis. The reality, though, is that his social teachings are in line with those of all the popes going back to the very first social encyclical, Leo XIII’s landmark Rerum Novarum in 1891.

We cannot determine whether a professed development is truly such or not, without some further knowledge than an experience of the mere fact of this variation. Nor will our instinctive feelings serve as a criterion. It must have been an extreme shock to St. Peter to be told he must slay and eat beasts, unclean as well as clean, though such a command was implied already in that faith which he held and taught; a shock, which a single effort, or a short period, or the force of reason would not suffice to overcome. Nay, it may happen that a representation which varies from its original may be felt as more true and faithful than one which has more pretensions to be exact.

In addition to the expected disagreements over my characterization of this moment in the Church as a fundamental disagreement between two views of Church authority, a number of bloggers and Facebook and Twitter users took exception to my use of the word “fundamentalist” to describe their view of doctrinal authority.

[…]

Admittedly, “fundamentalist” does take on a negative connotation when applied to extreme religious groups, but my intention was to use the word in the technical sense: to describe someone who relies on a “plain reading” of religious texts as their highest doctrinal authority. Fr. Dwight Longenecker was highly offended by my use of the word. He dedicated the first ⅓ of his blog post attempting to educate his readers about how he thinks the word should be used.

On the other hand, I object to Fr. Longenecker’s alternative classification, “Conservative Catholics.” This is not a liberal or conservative issue. In fact, both positions I posted could technically be classified as conservative because both prioritize orthodoxy and obedience to the teachings of the Magisterium. Alternatively, they both could be called liberal (in an American context), assuming both sides embrace the traditional principles of Catholic social teaching.

[…]

Fr. Longenecker actually did spend a little time on the substance of my argument, and then proceeded to demonstrate a nearly textbook example of the fundamentalist approach to doctrine that I described.

He refers to Bl. John Henry Newman’s Essay on the Development of Doctrine, summarizing it thus:

Put very simply, authentic development of doctrine must not only be in continuity with the past, but there must also be a natural growth which is consistent with the past and not contradictory. What seems to be an innovation must be a logical outgrowth of the original kernel of truth. Furthermore, the “new” truth must be seen to be already existent in seed form in the primitive teaching and the “new” truth must be a consolidation not a destruction of the “old” truth. Finally, Newman says there must be “chronic vigor” in the developing doctrine — in other words it presents itself as a vibrant and dynamic outgrowth of the old truth — not a lessening or diminution of that truth.

And yet, Fr. Longenecker takes it as a matter of fact that any reasonably intelligent person should see it as an innovation that is incompatible with the perennial teachings of the Church:

They believe the footnote in chapter eight introduces an innovation which would be to allow Catholics who are in an objectively sinful situation to receive holy communion. If this is what the footnote means, then they wish to test this innovation against Newman’s criteria. To do so becomes immediately obvious to the most elementary theological thinker that such an innovation does not, in fact, comply with any of Newman’s seven standards.

Fr. Longenecker, without blinking, walks right into exactly what I described in my own essay:

The Fundamentalist does not see his understanding of doctrine as a private judgement, but as an objective, plain reading of the Tradition, which should be self-evident to anyone with the ability to think logically.

Newman himself spoke of the need to understand that doctrines might not develop in a way that we can anticipate or in a way that our preconceived notions are prepared to accept. As I quoted at the beginning of this essay, John Henry Newman speculated that Peter himself likely didn’t anticipate a major development of doctrine that he promulgated in the Acts of the Apostles. “It must have been an extreme shock to St. Peter to be told he must slay and eat beasts, unclean as well as clean, though such a command was implied already in that faith which he held and taught.”

In this Thursday May 25, 2006 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI visits the tomb of Polish Cardinal August Hlond in Warsaw's St. John Cathedral. (Credit: Pier Paolo Cito/AP.)

A leading Jewish organization has criticized the Vatican's decision to move World War II-era Cardinal August Hlond along the path to possible sainthood, saying the Polish primate was "extremely" hostile to Jews and failed to condemn a 1946 pogrom.

ROME — A leading Jewish organization has criticized the Vatican’s decision to move World War II-era Cardinal August Hlond along the path to possible sainthood, saying the Polish primate was “extremely” hostile to Jews and failed to condemn a 1946 pogrom.

In a letter to top Vatican officials released Wednesday, the American Jewish Committee said it was “profoundly” concerned that Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing Hlond’s “heroic virtues,” the first main step in the sainthood process.

AJC’s director of interreligious affairs, Rabbi David Rosen, cited a 1936 pastoral letter Hlond wrote in which he urged Poles to stay away from the “harmful moral influence of Jews” and to boycott Jewish media.

“It is a fact that the Jews are fighting against the Catholic Church, persisting in free thinking, and are the vanguard of godlessness, Bolshevism and subversion,” Hlond wrote in the letter, which frequently has been cited as evidence of the Catholic Church’s institutional anti-Semitism prior to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

Hlond, who was the highest ranking Church official in Poland during 1926-48, remains highly respected in the overwhelmingly Catholic country for having kept the faith strong and protected the Church’s independence during the German Nazi occupation and the first years of post-war communism.

[…]

Francis’s decree that Hlond lived a life of heroic virtue came after investigators compiled a full study of his life, writings and works to determine their theological soundness. The Vatican must still confirm a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be beatified, and a second one for him to be made a saint.

MUMBAI, INDIA — Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end India's relations with the Vatican and close the apostolic nunciature in New Delhi.

Swami, a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house in parliament, May 23 criticized a letter Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi wrote to the Catholics of his archdiocese urging them to pray and fast for the nation.

Swamy used Twitter to urge Modi to direct the Ministry of External Affairs to cease all diplomatic relations with the Vatican and seal the Vatican embassy in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area as the Delhi archbishop is "a formal nominee of the Vatican."

Couto's May 8 letter spoke of a "turbulent political atmosphere" in the country that threatens the democratic principles enshrined in its Constitution and "the secular fabric of our nation."

The archbishop urged all parishes and religious institutions in his archdiocese to skip a meal and conduct hour-long Eucharistic adoration on Fridays for the spiritual renewal of the nation that is scheduled to elect a new government before May 2019.

Several television channels and pro-Hindu leaders lambasted the archbishop for interfering in the country’s politics.

BJP president Amit Shah said May 22 that nobody should galvanize support on the basis of religion. "I personally believe that no one should say things like this. For a religious person to make such comments cannot be accepted and appreciated," he added.

However, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee backed the archbishop and his letter, saying: "We respect all communities, castes, and archbishops across the country, including that of Kolkata. I think whatever they said, they correctly said. It's a fact."

'Catholics who voted 'Yes' in the referendum should consider coming to confession' — Bishop Doran

'Ireland is now conforming to a western liberal democracy... people are taking an a la carte approach to Catholicism' — Archbishop Eamon Martin

It is a new time and a change of culture, but it is not something that is out of the blue' — archbishop

'Certain people of all faiths will be interested to hear what Pope Francis has to say in August'

A leading bishop has called on Catholics who voted 'Yes' in the abortion referendum to "consider coming to confession".

Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran said today that those who want to come to confession "will be received with the same compassion as any other penitent".

When questioned by Sean O'Rourke on RTE Radio One, Bishop Doran replied; "Voting 'Yes' was a sin."

[...]

Bishop Doran's comments come after Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the church's influence in Ireland is under threat after the landslide victory for the 'Yes' campaign in the abortion referendum.

Dr Diarmuid Martin told mass-goers yesterday morning that many will see yesterday's vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment as an indication that the Church is now widely regarded with indifference and as having a marginal role in the formation of culture in Ireland.

He also said he Church may be seen as "lacking in compassion".

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Dr Martin said the Church must now renew its commitment to support life and not just in statements, but in deeds to reflect Jesus' compassion and care.

He said this includes helping women in difficult situations to "choose life".

"Pro-life means radically rediscovering in all our lives a special love for the poor that is the mark of the followers of Jesus," Dr Martin said at the mass where he ordained four deacons at the national seminary in Maynooth.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin tweeted yesterday saying he will give thanks to those who "made such a huge effort to remind us that in pregnancy we are dealing with two lives — both in need of love, respect and protection."

He added: "Every human life remains beautiful, every human life remains precious. Every human life remains sacred. #ChooseLife."

[...]

The results from the exit polls "didn't surprise" the archbishop, who said he is aware there are now three distinct groups in Ireland's society.

"We are well aware week to week by looking at our congregation [what is happening in Ireland].

"There are three groups; the committed minority, the remnants of people who are deeply committed to the teachings; a large group of people we see from the Census who are nominally and culturally Catholic and self identify as Catholic and retain an affiliation with the Church is some ways but have drifted away from regularly practicing their faith.

"And then we have a third group who have quite consciously rejected the church and are hostile to the teachings of the church.

"The church is now a new space and we've been there for some time," he continued.

"Pope Francis said way back in 1979 that Ireland is at a crossroads. I think what this referendum affirms is that Ireland is now conforming to a western liberal democracy, especially on issues like abortion, same sex, civil partnership, marriage and divorce.

"People are self-identifying as Catholic. And I hear people saying they're Catholic but they don't accept the church's teachings. The reality is people are taking an a la carte approach."

The archbishop said he doesn't think the referendum results will be new to the Pope, and said he is still certain people of all faiths will be interested to see what he has to say in August.

NORTHAMPTON, England — As an investigation into the life of Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton nears a close, admirers of the English writer voiced hope that his sainthood cause could soon be opened.

“Chesterton stands up as that saint who contradicts the world in terms of speaking out against a bad philosophy and bad thinking,” said Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society.

“Chesterton is someone who has really contradicted the age. He is in fact a maker of converts. There are hundreds of people who have come to the Catholic faith as a result of encountering G.K. Chesterton, and I’m certainly one of them.”

Ahlquist spoke to CNA on May 29, which would have been Chesterton’s 144th birthday.

An investigation into the cause for Chesterton, conducted by Canon John Udris, is expected to be completed this summer.

It will then be sent to Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton, who will consult with the Vatican about whether to open the beatification cause.

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) — A Catholic priest involved in the sainthood cause of a Polish cardinal has rejected claims the cardinal fostered anti-Semitism and refused help for endangered Jews.

"These charges are manipulative and untrue. There's no way he can be accused of anti-Semitism," said Fr. Boguslaw Koziol, vice postulator for the cause of Cardinal August Hlond, who headed the Polish church from 1926 until his death in 1948.

"His letters have been cut and published only in fragmentary form to portray him negatively when speaking about Jews. The latest accusations come from the same sources and are thus based on distortions," Koziol said.

The priest's comments came after claims by Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the New York-based American Jewish Committee, that Hlond advocated a boycott of Jewish-owned shops and businesses in a 1936 pastoral letter, and later declined requests for help from threatened Jewish communities.

In an interview with Catholic News Service, the priest said accusations of anti-Semitism first appeared in German newspapers after the opening of the sainthood cause for Hlond in 1992.

However, he added that the claims had been disproved by "historically objective and unemotional research," and said there were "overwhelming arguments" for his beatification.

"It's possible his process could now face delays if the Vatican seeks further clarifications," said Koziol, who heads the beatification office of the Polish church's Society of Christ Fathers in Poznan.

"But all documents connected with Cardinal Hlond, including his misquoted pastoral letter, have been carefully checked, and no Jewish organizations have made any complaints previously," he said.

The pope signed a decree May 21 recognizing the "heroic virtues" of Hlond at the recommendation of the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes and is widely expected to approve his beatification. A miracle attributed to the cardinal's intercession would be needed before he could be beatified.

NORTHAMPTON, England — As an investigation into the life of Catholic apologist G.K. Chesterton nears a close, admirers of the English writer voiced hope that his sainthood cause could soon be opened.

“Chesterton stands up as that saint who contradicts the world in terms of speaking out against a bad philosophy and bad thinking,” said Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society.

“Chesterton is someone who has really contradicted the age. He is in fact a maker of converts. There are hundreds of people who have come to the Catholic faith as a result of encountering G.K. Chesterton, and I’m certainly one of them.”

Ahlquist spoke to CNA on May 29, which would have been Chesterton’s 144th birthday.

An investigation into the cause for Chesterton, conducted by Canon John Udris, is expected to be completed this summer.

It will then be sent to Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton, who will consult with the Vatican about whether to open the beatification cause.

Ahlquist said the decision will most likely be announced this fall.

[…]

I got to meet Fr. Udris, investigator for opening the Cause, at a Chesterton conference shortly after this investigation was opened.

We need to be praying for Gilbert's intercession in miracles.

"Utter frogshit from start to finish." - Onyx

"I shall not wear a crown of gold where my Master wore a crown of thorns." - Godfrey de Bouillon

Any of you guys watch any of the Fr Mike Schmitz videos on youtube? I would actually consider a physical move to Minnesota just so I could attend his church. As an inquirer to the Catholic Church, his videos have been, hands-down, the most inspiring and joy-inducing part of my journey so far. I gotta think this man is a huge blessing to both the younger (and younger-minded) set, AND to folks who are coming out of the new wave of evangelicalism with it's high-powered, seeker-friendly, and engaging slant.

I’ve watched a few of his vids. He is gifted at preaching and teaching. An amazing number of priests are not. I wouldn’t move anywhere for good preaching from anyone, but I might make a point to visit. Locally to me, I have another good teacher, Bishop Robert Barron.

Regardless, per capita, the Evangelicals have it all over the Catholics when it comes to charismatic teaching and preaching, the meat of the message itself notwithstanding.

Coming out of the protestant camp, the homily/sermon past of Mass is much different than what I am used to. Barron has also been a really big part of getting answers in a really down-to-earth and engaging way.

In my previous post, I examined the introduction to Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones, the new Vatican document on “economic and financial issues.” Now I will examine part one, entitled “Fundamental Considerations.” It is a complete rejection of libertarianism (laissez-faire economics) in favor of what I would call “person-centered” economics. This document does not contain any detailed policy proposals (7). Figuring those out is our job, not the Vatican’s. Instead, the document expounds key principles that should form the basis of actions. I identify six principles: human dignity, relational anthropology (“communion”), the common good, the universal destination of goods, solidarity & subsidiarity, and proximate immorality.

1) Human dignity
This is the most basic concept. Over and over again, the document insists that the dignity of every human person be respected by all financial actors and institutions. If the dignity of persons is violated, that is morally wrong, no matter how much money the violation earns. …

[…]

It is intrinsically evil to instrumentalize another person: we are subjects, not objects. The only moral attitude to have toward another human being is to love them, never to use them. …

Money is supposed to be a means to the end of human flourishing. Instead, the “great masses” of human beings have become a means to the end of the luxury and power of a few.

2) Relational anthropology (“communion”)
Liberalism is based on the recognition of the value of the human person and will therefore have no trouble in accepting the first principle. But the Catholic Church binds to this principle a second one, equally indispensable and inseparable: human beings are inherently relational. That is, we do not and cannot live as isolated individuals, but always in communion with others. …

[…]

The whole concept of libertarianism, namely that everyone is an autonomous individual whose freedom from coercion should be maximized, is antithetical to Christianity, which is centered on the concept of “communion” (see, e.g., Acts 2:42-47; Gal 2:7-10; Heb 13:16; 1 John 1:3). …

[…]

3) The common good
It follows from human relationality that economic actors and institutions that harm the common good are ipso facto immoral. It is not enough simply to respect the intrinsic worth of individual persons; one must also contribute to the common good. The two principles go hand-in-hand, and constitute the fundamental “bottom-line” of morality in the economic sphere.

[…]

4) The universal destination of goods
The universal destination of goods is a long-standing element in CST. …

[…]

The libertarian valuation of “private property” is directly antithetical to this Catholic doctrine. If anyone wants to learn more about this concept, I recommend you purchase the collection of sermons by St. Basil the Great called “On Social Justice.” He is a Father and Doctor of the Church, and this paragraph cites one of his sermons translated in this volume.

[…]

5) The integral role of governments (solidarity and subsidiarity)
According to libertarianism, the government’s job is to secure the life, freedom, and private property of individuals. This means that governments serve only the wealthy, since the poor have neither property nor the economic means to be free. The Catholic Church, in contrast, sees the common good as the collaborative goal of every sector of society. That includes individuals, businesses, NGO’s, religious communities, and all levels of government.

[…]

Of all the principles I have outlined so far, this may be the one most widely and routinely denied by many Americans, including Catholics who either do not know better or reject CST. (Just yesterday I saw a Tweet decrying “outsourcing” charity to the government.) Over and over again, one hears someone saying that helping the poor is the job of individuals and churches, not the government. This is true according to libertarian doctrine, but it is false according to Catholic doctrine.

[…]

Two extremes are avoided here: libertarianism, which denies the principle of “solidarity” (the common good) and communism, which denies the principle of “subsidiarity” (all levels working together instead of a top-down, big government solution). This is the essence of CST, and why it is sometimes called a “third way” between libertarianism (or individualism) and communism (or “collectivism”).

6) Proximate immorality
The final principle is a direct counter to the standard apologetic response that wealthy capitalists use to justify their exploitation of their workers, the poor, and the planet. The profiteers claim they are doing nothing wrong because the acts in which they engage (e.g., lending money at interest, paying someone for their labor, merging two corporations), considered individually as if in a vacuum are not “intrinsically evil.” If each individual action is per se legitimate (at least in theory), then the entire financial system built on the repetition of those acts trillions of times must also be morally right. Right? Wrong.

[…]

Final thoughts:
The principles outlined in this document are bedrocks of CST, which rejects libertarianism. As I stated in my previous post, I expect some libertarian Catholics to try to discredit this document by claiming that Pope Francis is a heretic or whatever. Others will simply ignore it, just as they ignored Benedict XVI and John Paul II when they said the exact same things. Lastly, a few will engage in complex apologetics (which could earn them a gold medal in mental gymnastics) that try to spin the document into saying something other than what it actually says. This is mostly accomplished by the sleight of hand they call “prudential judgment,” where they affirm the principles with their lips and then propose standard free-market, anti-government, anti-poor policies that undermine those principles.

It’s a shame that the document is written in complex Vaticanese (with several typos to boot). I had to carefully re-read quite a few sentences, and I have a Ph.D. in theology! We need more Catholic clergy and teachers, especially here in America, to explain these principles in ways ordinary Catholics can understand. That’s what I’ve tried to do here. Many libertarian bromides circulate in Catholic parishes with nary a word of contradiction. At times, they are even presented as though they were Catholic teachings (for example, that it’s the church’s, not the government’s, job to help the poor)! This situation must change, and Pope Francis can’t do it single-handed.

Pope Francis leads Benediction in observance of the feast of Corpus Christi in Ostia, a suburb of Rome, June 3. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)

ROME — Pope Francis has asked the Catholic bishops’ conference of Germany not to publish nationwide guidelines for allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion at Mass, but to continue having diocesan bishops judge specific situations.

Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed the authenticity of a letter published June 4 on the Italian blog Settimo Cielo.

“The Holy Father has reached the conclusion that the document has not matured enough to be published,” said the letter signed by Cardinal-designate Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

[…]

The same day the letter was leaked, Francis met at the Vatican with a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany.

“Let us support one another in the journey, including by continuing the theological dialogue,” the pope told them.

“No ecumenical dialogue can advance if we remain stationary,” the pope said. “We must walk, progress - not impetuously running ahead to reach a hoped-for finish line, but walking together with patience under the gaze of God.”

Certain themes, including “the Church, the Eucharist and ecclesial ministry,” require deeper study and dialogue, he said. At the same time, ecumenism is not “elitist,” but must “involve as much as possible many brothers and sisters in the faith, growing as a community of disciples who pray, love and proclaim.”